Rigorous Love

[Gwydion]

Coconut, balsam, lemongrass, anise, vanilla orchid, mimosa.

In bottles: This is really different. The coconut and balsam combine worth the lemongrass to create an effect I’m having trouble describing. It’s sort of tart and warm and toasty at the same time. The orchids and mimosa form a second strong faction, which goes really well with the balsam, which ties the factions together. The anise is soft and fun with the lemongrass. Wet: Lemongrass is now strongest, as my skin amps it. It is too strong really, though the coconut, balsam, and anise, try hard to hold firm. The flowers fade into a soft fuzzy background. It’s not bad even still, but there’s just too much lemongrass with my chemistry. Dry: Very pretty on the dry down. The lemongrass stays strongest, but calms down. Balsam is a strong second, with a touch of coconut and a kiss of florals.

[livingdead71]

In the bottle, I get a pretty mix of coconut, balsam, and lemongrass. On the skin, it starts out mostly an interesting blend of balsam and lemongrass. However, I tend to amp lemongrass, so for a long time that note stamps out everything else in a loud, screeching manner. Much later, I get a soft coconut and maybe some vanilla orchid. I like the beginning and end stages, but I don't think it's ultimately worth the lemongrass stampede.

[nineveh]

A sweet lemon/green scent, very natural and fresh. It smells similar to what I remember of the long-discontinued Mantis with the lemongrass of Skytyping with Chemtrails. I can't smell any coconut.

 

Overall, it's a bit too green for my tastes, but would be a good choice for those of you who are after a dewy, grassy scent for warm weather.

[theseagrows]

wow, this one is very sweet and creamy on me, but unfortunately, not in a very good way :/ i am getting mostly coconut, anise and vanilla. i don't mind the sweetness of coconut and vanilla normally, but this is way too sweet for me. also anise isn't really working for me...i wasn't sure if it would, as i don't recall trying any other bpal scents with anise in them.

[crimescenecleanup]

This is easily my favorite of the shungas, of any year.

 

It is so well-blended, I can't even pick out individual notes.

 

The coconut makes this sweet and creamy. It is like a gourmet ice cream made with some fancy variety of lemon, and just the right amount of rare herbs and spice to complement it.

[Nemi]

I was very curious about this one, lemongrass was something new to me.

 

At first this is very lemongrass on me, with something else that I think is the anis. To/on me this is a bit "sharp" the first hour, the lemongrass smelling very strong and "authentic".

 

Later, the lemongrass becomes less dominant, and it becomes sweeter and more creamy. I think I can now smell the vanilla and faint coconut. I really like it at this stage, but now it is not very strong.

 

Lemongrass was not for me I think, but it is an interesting blend and I'm glad I tried it.

[surlygurl]

Holy @#&*!! This is horrid on me! And I'm the person who loves tropical coconut in all it's forms. Coconut/anise must be a death combo for me, because I sold my bottle of Paduan Killer Swarm for the same reason. The lemongrass adds a whole other dimension of horridness. I don't know what the other notes are doing - probably cowering in abject terror. *runs to wash off*

 

Maybe I should save this for a warm summer day, as steel grey skies don't make me think of tropical goodness.

[Balame]

Yeah, like surlygirl, anise is one of those notes that typically doesn't play nicely with me. Here it's no different. While the coconut, lemon and vanilla was a really delicious combo, it was then that the anise came along and contaminated it with its gross, black licorice-y self. If you like licorice go for it, but sadly I do not.

[Floria]

I get mostly coconut and lemongrass from this, with a bit of anise. Early in the drydown, there's a bit of something fizzy (although not nearly to the extent of something like Bon Vivant), which might be the tangyness of the lemongrass, and might be the mimosa. I don't get the vanilla orchid as a separate note (although fresh vanilla orchid may just not be very distinct on me, that was my experience with Lady In a Speckled Pink Kimono). It may be just providing a bit of sweet fuzz to keep the lemongrass from going too sharp.

 

My only real complaint is that it doesn't have much staying power.

[lohengrin]

In the decant: Coconut and light florals.

 

On skin, wet: Florals go poof and this is coconut and... something else that is too faint to identify yet.

 

On skin, dry: HELLO ANISE. Wow. That took over in a hurry. A little coconut remains, too, and overall I really quite like it.

 

After an hour: The coconut comes back out and melds nicely with the anise. Will need to deathmatch it against Harigata II, though.

[GoldenRubee]

It's funny what different body chemistry does to perfume oils. I applied this today for the first time and thought how absolutely lovely it was. This is probably the creamiest and most authentic coconut I have ever worn. It isn't plastic smelling or nauseating to me at all. After 30 minutes or so a little of the lemongrass becomes apparent for just a brief moment and then disappears completely. The creamy coconut then reappears with light vanilla orchid and maybe a touch of mimosa fizziness. I did not detect any anise at all. All in all, my favorite Shuna so far this year!

[OctoberGwen]

This starts off fresh and lemony, with coconut. Love it, but I was close to dismissing it as a pretty but ultimately forgettable fragrance.

 

Then when the anise began to show itself, I thought it was all over...I dislike anise, as a rule, and it tends to amp on me.

 

Here it does remain in check, and I get a bit of the very lovely florals, too. (I adore orchids and mimosa.) These elements all combine to make this a light but still complex and very refreshing scent.

 

The longer Rigorous Love sits on my skin, the more I'm liking it. This would be wonderful for sweltering summer days, I think.

Edited March 20, 2013 by OctoberGwen

[Little Bird]

I actually really like anise. I find it kind of odd in this blend, but not unpleasant. I don't normally like lemongrass, but it works for me paired with the sweetness of the coconut and perfumey, slightly powdery vanilla orchid. The lemongrass starts off too strong, but it quickly settles down on my skin. The coconut almost has a plasticy, slightly clean feel, but it all works out to something rather nice. Sweet & clean coconut, perfumey vanilla orchid, sour lemon, and a whiff of dark, smooth anise. Only lasts about 3 hours, but I like it well enough. I doubt that I'll track down more of this, but I'm keeping my decant. I think it'll be a nice summer scent.

[brilliantcat]

Imp: Coconut and lemongrass with a smidge of anise hiding underneath.

 

Wet: Mostly lemongrass but I get the creaminess of the coconut rounding it out. Very spring/summery.

 

Dry: A lovely lemony coconut. I get very little of the other notes but what I do get is very pleasing. I think this would get a lot of wear in the spring and summer as I love coconut

[tziporra]

I want to tell you an embaraasing story. We'll call the story "Tzi's Expectations and Suceptibility."

 

I got home from a weekend trip at 4am and tore into my bpal package containing my VERY LAST NOT ORDERING ANYMORE NOPE NOSIREEBOB Lupercalia order.

 

I slathered on Rigorous Love not remembering any note but coconut (in my defense, the package was at my bedside, not sitting out in the mailbox).

 

This is not a 4am-after-an-all-night-drive scent.

 

Ewwwwwwwwww...... I thought, what is that? Tea? Why did I buy a tea scent? I don't like the lab's tea note and now it is amping to the sky and just general wah I'm going to hafta swap this and why did I buy it un-sniffed?

 

It's not tea. It's lemongrass (how on earth did I read that as tea?). I bought it because I wanted to smell like lemon. Specifically creamy lemon coconut, like a flan I make using coconut milk instead of dairy, and doused in lemon syrup. Oh. This smells just like that.

 

It is _very_ bright and _very_ lemony in that lemongrass not quite as flowery a little more herbal than a lemon but not as herbal as lemon balm kind of way. This is an amazing scent to put on say, when you want to wake up after four and a half hours of sleep because you drove all night.

 

My only request from the scent universe is that the balsam and anise will peek out just a bit more with aging and give the lemongrass something to settle onto.

 

Not swapping. Keep!

 

Tzi

 

ETA: not punctuation, obviously. Just some verb agreement to make this somewhat readable

Edited March 31, 2013 by tziporra

[sunshinedaisybliss]

This is just... a mess. I suspected it would be, because lemongrass always creates a stench of epic proportions on me, but somehow the coconut and anise just take it to a whole new level of wretchedness for me. I think the vanilla orchid and mimosa have run away in horror, because I can't find either of them here at all. And just to top it all off, the balsam is adding a layer of sharp greenery that really isn't helping at all. Is it lemon-scented fly spray? Lemon-scented tanning oil? No! It's a mixture of both!!

 

This smells like some perverted genetic scientist somehow managed to cross a lemon with a coconut to produce a pungent balm that he plans to market as a beauty product for stripping the hairs out of the inside of your nostrils. There's something very unpleasant about the lemon + anise + coconut combination, but it's unpleasant in an I-still-want-to-smell-it way.. kind of like how really foul farts are hilarious because they smell so bad. But no - I just... don't want it on my skin any longer and must go wash.

 

This is not Rigorous Love. It's Vigorous Scruboff.

[Missy_killer]

To my nose: The first thing that pops up is the coconut and anise. It smells exactly like a candy I used to like as a kid. It's like a big version of the yellow "wheel" found in English Allsorts Licorice. So it's a bar of black licorice, coated in that soft yellow, sugary paste and then rolled in coconut flakes. That is the only thing I smell.

 

On: Anise is the most prominent thing, and then the lemongrass slowly pops it's head up. The longer it sits on my skin the less noticable the licorice gets. And it's very interesting! If I try really hard I can smell the coconut, but it's very faint. It's like you're squeezing lemons while covered in sunlotion and eating English Allsorts a bright summerday. Because really, who doesn't do that?

And i know it's odd, but it smells very much like summer to me.

 

Twenty minutes in: I think I can smell the orchid now. Or at least I smell vanilla and licorice now. It stays like that for another ten minutes. And then I smell sand all of a sudden?! I think that the mix between coconut, licorice and vanilla made it smell like warm sand at the beach? And I have no idea what mimosa or balsam smells like, but there's a floral undertone to the sand.

 

I left it on and for another hour all I could smell was coconut and floral vanilla. And fice hours later all that was left was a very faint, powdery vanilla.

Edited April 10, 2013 by Missy_killer

[milo]

First, I'm getting the fresh lemongrass. I love anything citrus or citrus-like, so this is good. After a bit, the coconut comes out, it kind of reminds me of maybe a Thai sauce for shrimp now, though there is some floral here, so not quite. This ends up being lemongrass, floral and coconut in that order. It's kind of nice, but not sure if I need more, as I have plenty of citrus blends.

[Amber Tears]

I received this blend in a swap (thanks Aviatrix!). Both in the bottle and wet it smelled like lemon grass essential oil with shavings of coconut floating in it. Only when it dried on skin did the other notes peek out. The coconut, anise and vanilla orchid combined for a tropical, creamy-like coconut. The balsam and lemongrass (lemongrass dominating) created a green-ish lemon aspect. To me, it smells of lemon-coconut-anise pizzelles. Being half-italian, it reminded me of our family reunion dessert with rows and rows of plates stacked with different flavored pizzelles. Because it reminds me of such fond memories, this blend was bumped up to one of my favorites.

[zankoku_zen]

I somehow missed reviewing this originally. Rigorous Love doesn't work for me because of the coconut. I get lemongrass, coconut, and a hint of vanilla orchid.

 

So yes, tropical love. For anyone who loves coconut.

[poofie]

I'm wearing this today and I love it so much. It's lemon and creamy coconut and a bit of anise and vanilla. This is perfect for a spring day! It is a little like Startled Toad from Luper 2015, but this is fresher and less complicated (ST was muddled on me).

[Lucchesa]

I swapped for Rigorous Love largely on the basis of surlygirl's assertion that it was horrible on her in the same way that Paduan Killer Swarm was horrible on her. PKS is swoon-worthy on me, so I had high hopes. Which were not entirely borne out, but that's OK. Lemongrass tends to take over on me, and wet, Rigorous Love was all lemongrass. A lovely bright pure lemongrass that didn't go anywhere near Pledge, as actual lemon always tends to do on me. But I had to wait for drydown for any other notes to poke out. Once the lemongrass softened down, in an hour or so, I got coconut and gentle anise and a breath of vanilla orchid. I'm not really experiencing much in the way of balsam or mimosa, but they weren't what I was here for anyway. This stage is quite lovely, no throw (normal for me) but reasonably long-lasting, upbeat, summery, work-appropriate. It's not knocking me off my feet, but it is very nice and I suspect it may grow on me.